scholarly journals Dinosaur origin of egg color: oviraptors laid blue-green eggs

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmina Wiemann ◽  
Tzu-Ruei Yang ◽  
Philipp N. Sander ◽  
Marion Schneider ◽  
Marianne Engeser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Paternal Care ◽  
First Record ◽  
Nesting Behavior ◽  
Theropod Dinosaurs ◽  
Cryptic Coloration ◽  
Stage Embryo ◽  
Late Developmental Stage ◽  
Signaling Hypothesis ◽  
Egg Coloration

Protoporphyrin (PP) and biliverdin (BV) give rise to the enormous diversity in avian egg coloration. Egg color serves several ecological purposes, including post-mating signaling and camouflage. Egg camouflage represents a major character of open-nesting birds which accomplish protection of their unhatched offspring against visually oriented predators by cryptic egg coloration. Cryptic coloration evolved to match the predominant shades of color found in the nesting environment. Such a selection pressure for the evolution of colored or cryptic eggs should be present in all open nesting birds and relatives. Many birds are open-nesting, but protect their eggs by continuous brooding, and thus exhibit no or minimal eggshell pigmentation. Their closest extant relatives, crocodiles, protect their eggs by burial and have unpigmented eggs. This phylogenetic pattern led to the assumption that colored eggs evolved within crown birds. The mosaic evolution of supposedly avian traits in non-avian theropod dinosaurs, however, such as the supposed evolution of partially open nesting behavior in oviraptorids, argues against this long-established theory. Using a double-checking liquid chromatography ESI-Q-TOF mass spectrometry routine, we traced the origin of colored eggs to their non-avian dinosaur ancestors by providing the first record of the avian eggshell pigments protoporphyrin and biliverdin in the eggshells of Late Cretaceous oviraptorid dinosaurs. The eggshell parataxonMacroolithus yaotunensiscan be assigned to the oviraptorHeyuannia huangibased on exceptionally preserved, late developmental stage embryo remains. The analyzed eggshells are from three Late Cretaceous fluvial deposits ranging from eastern to southernmost China. Reevaluation of these taphonomic settings, and a consideration of patterns in the porosity of completely preserved eggs support an at least partially open nesting behavior for oviraptorosaurs. Such a nest arrangement corresponds with our reconstruction of blue-green eggs for oviraptors. According to the sexual signaling hypothesis, the reconstructed blue-green eggs support the origin of previously hypothesized avian paternal care in oviraptorid dinosaurs. Preserved dinosaur egg color not only pushes the current limits of the vertebrate molecular and associated soft tissue fossil record, but also provides a perspective on the potential application of this unexplored paleontological resource.

Late Cretaceous sharks from Cuba, first record of Serratolamna serrata (Agassiz) (Lamniformes, Serratolamnidae)

Geobios ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmani Ceballos Izquierdo ◽  
Lázaro W. Viñola-López ◽  
Carlos Rafael Borges-Sellén ◽  
Alberto F. Arano-Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
First Record

scholarly journals Discovery of Lebambromyia in Myanmar Cretaceous Amber: Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Implications (Insecta, Diptera, Phoroidea)

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 354
Author(s):  
Davide Badano ◽  
Qingqing Zhang ◽  
Michela Fratini ◽  
Laura Maugeri ◽  
Inna Bukreeva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Phase Contrast ◽  
First Record ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Monophyletic Lineage ◽  
Cladistic Analyses

Lebambromyia sacculifera sp. nov. is described from Late Cretaceous amber from Myanmar, integrating traditional observation techniques and X-ray phase contrast microtomography. Lebambromyia sacculifera is the second species of Lebambromyia after L. acrai Grimaldi and Cumming, described from Lebanese amber (Early Cretaceous), and the first record of this taxon from Myanmar amber, considerably extending the temporal and geographic range of this genus. The new specimen bears a previously undetected set of phylogenetically relevant characters such as a postpedicel sacculus and a prominent clypeus, which are shared with Ironomyiidae and Eumuscomorpha. Our cladistic analyses confirmed that Lebambromyia represented a distinct monophyletic lineage related to Platypezidae and Ironomyiidae, though its affinities are strongly influenced by the interpretation and coding of the enigmatic set of features characterizing these fossil flies.

Parataxonomic classification of ornithoid eggshell fragments from the Oldman Formation (Judith River Group; Upper Cretaceous), southern Alberta

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 1655-1667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darla K. Zelenitsky ◽  
L. V. Hills ◽  
Philip J. Currie
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Shell Thickness ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Theropod Dinosaur ◽  
Surface Sculpture ◽  
External Zone ◽  
Theropod Dinosaurs ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
The Family

Examination of a large number of eggshell fragments collected from the Oldman Formation of southern Alberta reveals a greater ootaxonomic diversity than is known from complete eggs or clutches. Three new oogenera and oospecies of the ornithoid-ratite morphotype and one of the ornithoid-prismatic morphotype are established, based on the eggshell fragments. Porituberoolithus warnerensis oogen. et oosp. nov. and Continuoolithus canadensis oogen. et oosp. nov. have a microstructure similar to that of elongatoolithid eggs of theropod dinosaurs. Tristraguloolithus cracioides oogen. et oosp. nov. and Dispersituberoolithus exilis oogen. et oosp. nov. possess an external zone and thus have a microstructure like modern avian eggshell. Tristraguloolithus has a shell thickness, microstructure, and surface sculpture similar to those of recent bird eggshell of the family Cracidae (order Galliformes). Dispersituberoolithus exhibits the primitive or normal eggshell condition of some recent neognathous avian taxa. The ootaxa described indicate a diversity of both avian and theropod dinosaur egg layers within Devil's Coulee and Knight's Ranch, southern Alberta, during the Late Cretaceous.

scholarly journals First record of Calappoidea and Dromioidea from the Upper Cretaceous (Upper Maastrichtian) of NW Madagascar

2003 ◽  
Vol 72 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 135-136
Author(s):  
Alessandro Garassino ◽  
Giovanni Pasini
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
First Record ◽  
Upper Maastrichtian

The crustaceans from the marine Berivotra Formation, dated as late Cretaceous, from 50 km south of Mahajanga, Madagascar contains macrurans, brachyurans and thalassinideans. Two brachyuran families, Raninidae and Dynomenidae, were previously identified with the genera Notopocorystes, Caloxanthus, Titanocarcinus, Xanthosia, and Dromiopsis. Fragmentary material now also allows the recognition of Dromioidea, Calappoidea and Xanthoidea.

First record of soft-shelled turtles (Cryptodira, Trionychidae) from the Late Cretaceous of Europe

2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 1027-1032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten M. Scheyer ◽  
Thomas Mörs ◽  
Elisabeth Einarsson
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
First Record

scholarly journals Nannofossils, foraminifera and microforaminiferal linings in the Cenozoic diamictites of Cape Lamb, Vega Island, Antarctica

2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Concheyro ◽  
Andrea Caramés ◽  
Cecilia R. Amenábar ◽  
Marina Lescano
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
First Record ◽  
Organic Layer ◽  
Sediment Sources ◽  
Lower Maastrichtian ◽  
James Ross Island ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Upper Maastrichtian ◽  
Upper Campanian

AbstractMicropaleontological and palynological samples from three Cenozoic diamictites at Cape Lamb, Vega Island, James Ross Basin were analysed. Fossiliferous samples yielded reworked and autochthonous assemblages of Mesozoic calcareous nanno− fossils, impoverished Cretaceous foraminifera together with Neogene species, as well as Late Cretaceous dinoflagellate cysts, pollen, spores and abundant Cenozoic micro− foraminiferal linings. The recovered nannoflora indicates Early Cretaceous (Hauteri− vian-Albian) and Late Cretaceous (Santonian-Early Campanian) ages, suggesting an in− tensive reworking of marine sediments. The presence of the Early Cretaceous species Nannoconus circularis Deres et Acheriteguy in the diamictite represents its first record for the James Ross Basin. The scarce foraminiferal fauna includes Pullenia jarvisi Cushman, which indicates reworking from lower Maastrichtian-lower Paleocene sediments, and also the Neogene autochthonous Trochammina sp. aff. T. intermedia. The in− ner−organic layer observed inside this specimen appears to be identical to microfora− miniferal linings recovered from the same sample. Palynomorphs found in the studied samples suggest erosion from the underlying Snow Hill Island and the Lopez de Bertodano Formation beds (upper Campanian-upper Maastrichtian). These recovered assemblages indicate either different periods of deposition or reworking from diverse sources during Cenozoic glaciation, originating in James Ross Island and the Antarctic Peninsula with the influence of local sediment sources.

An ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Shandong (China)

1995 ◽  
Vol 132 (6) ◽  
pp. 683-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Buffetaut
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
First Record ◽  
Northwestern China ◽  
Left Femur ◽  
Caudal Vertebrae ◽  
The University

AbstractIn 1923, H. C. T’an and O. Zdansky collected remains of an ankylosaurid dinosaur in the Late Cretaceous Wangshi Group of the Laiyang region, in eastern Shandong (China). Apart from a few caudal vertebrae, this material, which is kept at the Palaeontological Institution of the University of Uppsala (Sweden), was never described or figured. It includes a well-preserved sacrum with the attached right ilium and part of the presacral rod, caudal vertebrae, a left femur and a dermal scute. This material is referred to an ankylosaurid of the genus Pinacosaurus Gilmore, 1933, on the basis of the widely divergent ilium bearing a strong ventral ridge and of the slenderness of the femur. In the absence of cranial material, a specific attribution is difficult and the Uppsala material is referred to as Pinacosaurus cf. grangeri (P. grangeri being the only generally accepted species of Pinacosaurus). This is the first record of Pinacosaurus outside the Gobi Basin of Mongolia and northwestern China. In the Gobi Basin, Pinacosaurus has been reported only from the Djadokhta Formation or its equivalents, of supposed Campanian age, and it is suggested that at least the part of the Wangshi Group which yielded the Shandong Pinacosaurus may be of roughly the same age as the Djadokhta Formation.

Monimiaceae sensu lato, an element of Gondwanan polar forests: Evidence from the late Cretaceous-early tertiary wood flora of Antarctica

2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imogen Poole ◽  
Helmut Gottwald
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
First Record ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
Early Tertiary ◽  
Breadth Ratio ◽  
Ecological Dominance ◽  
Perforation Plates ◽  
The Antarctic

Palaeofloristic studies of the Antarctic Peninsula region are important in furthering our understanding of (i) the radiation and rise to ecological dominance of the angiosperms in the Southern Hemisphere during the Late Cretaceous and (ii) the present day disjunct austral vegetation. Investigations of Upper Cretaceous and Early Tertiary sediments of this region yield a rich assemblage of well-preserved fossil dicotyledonous angiosperm wood which provides evidence for the existence, since the Late Cretaceous, of temperate forests similar in composition to those found in present-day southern South America, New Zealand and Australia. This paper describes two previously unrecognised morphotypes, which can be assigned to the Monimiaceae sensu lato, and represents the first record of this family in the wood flora of Antarctica. Specimens belonging to the first fossil morphotype have been assigned to Hedycaryoxylon SÜss (subfamily Monimioideae) because they exhibit anatomical features characteristic of Hedycaryoxylon and extant Hedycarya J.R.Forst. &amp; G.Forst. and Tambourissa Sonn. Characters include diffuse porosity, vessels which are mainly solitary with scalariform perforation plates, opposite to scalariform intervascular pitting, paratracheal parenchyma, septate fibres and tall (>3 mm), wide multiseriate rays with a length: breadth ratio of approximately 1: 4. Specimens belonging to the second morphotype have been assigned to Atherospermoxylon KrÄusel, erected for fossil woods of the Monimiaceae in the tribe Atherospermeae (now Atherospermataceae) in that they exhibit anatomical features similar to Atherospermoxylon and extant Daphnandra Benth., Doryphora Endl. and Laurelia novae-zelandiae A.Cunn. These characters include diffuse to semi-ring porosity, scalariform perforation plates with up to 25 bars, septate fibres, relatively short (<1 mm) rays with a length: breadth ratio of between 1: 4 and 1: 11.

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